1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a sharps waste management system and specifically to apparatus for receiving, storing and disposing of sharps medical waste. The medical waste may include sharp objects, such as hypodermic needles or disposable hypodermic syringes. The medical waste may include infectious or hazardous material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The reception, storage and disposal of sharps medical waste is a problem which exists in hospitals and other medical facilities. This waste may take a number of different forms. For example, the types of waste may range from glass vials and microscope slides to scalpels and syringes which are considered both hazardous and infectious. Small amounts of hazardous chemicals may also be contained.
In the prior art, containers have been provided to receive and store the various types of medical waste prior to collection and disposal. For example, semi-rigid containers have been used to receive and store sharp implements such as hypodermic syringes and chemical waste and with these semi-rigid containers being periodically collected for disposal. In general, the reception, storage and disposal of this hazardous/infectious medical waste has been somewhat haphazard since no complete sharps waste management system has been used to organize the reception, storage and disposal of the waste and to thereby maintain a safe orderly handling of the waste.